Does Australia or has Australia ever had foreign aid? I hear people constantly going on about how much we give. Actually we dont.
Just the same I can never get an answer to this. The magic google seems iseless on this question.

according to Google - On average, Australians think we invest 16% of the Federal Budget on overseas aid, and believe that we should be spending something closer to 12%. In reality, Australia spends $4.0 billion dollars on overseas aid – that's just 0.22% of our gross national income, or 22 cents in every $100.
The Australian Government will provide an estimated $375.7 million in total ODA to Indonesia in 2015-16, including an estimated $323 million in bilateral funding managed by DFAT.
How much do we spend on welfare in Australia?
Almost $160 billion spent on welfare. The Australian Government and state and territory governments spent an estimated $157 billion on welfare in 2015-16 (cash payments and welfare services only), up from $117 billion in 2006-07. This was an average annual growth rate of 3.4%.

Internationally, we're doing poorly, especially after so much has been removed from the foreign aid budget in the past three years. Foreign aid isn't just cash but provision of goods and services. Because we've pulled back, other countries, notably China, have stepped in. They've gained the influence we're losing.

Australian and New Zealand together should be the chief benefactors in the South Pacific, but we're simply not pulling our weight any longer. In Fiji, for example, we used to provide solar energy generators to remote islands. We're not doing that now, so I was told the last time I was there.

In 1790, the colonists at Port Jackson faced their harshest conditions. Early attempts at agriculture had produced little. While hunting and fishing did supplement meagre supplies, starvation was a real possibility. Rations were reduced by two thirds, the weekly allowance per person being 2 lb (1 kilogram) of pork, 2.5 lb (1.2 kilograms) of flour and 2 lb (1 kilogram) of rice.

In March some provisions arrived on HMS Supply but the arrival of the Second Fleet in June made the situation worse. Known as the Death Fleet, these convict ships were owned by private contractor. Those convicts that hadn’t died on board as a result of starvation and ill-treatment arrived in very poor health and were a drain on resources, worsening the 1790 food crisis.

On 12 May 1790, the following assessment was made of food stores:

Pork 23,851lb will last until 26 August at current rates of consumption.
Beef 1,280lb will last until 26 August at current rates of consumption
Rice 27,455lb will last until 13 September at current rates of consumption
Pease 17 bushels will last until 13 September at current rates of consumption
Flour 56,884lb will last until 19 December at current rates of consumption
Biscuit 1,924lb will last until 19 December at current rates of consumption

Thanks folks I know about us giving aid but very little about us getting aid. Most interesting Warrigal Thanyou everyone
I know Red Adair was sent by USA to help with a disaster. What the he k was that?

The truth is that here in Australia we are very good at managing disasters. Cyclone Tracey was the text book example of how to deal with a major crisis. We've learnt to handle fires and floods too and have the resources we need.

Foreign aid, as distinct from disaster relief, is a form of soft diplomacy that is used to garner co-operation from neighbouring countries. It is usually in the form of infrastructure such as road building and the like. The contractors are mostly Australian companies so much of the money stays circulating in the Australian economy.

If Australia were to stop all foreign aid to Pacific nations, then China would be very quick to jump in to fill the vacuum. This is how they buy votes in the UN and other important organisations.

The Government has announced its largest ever aid commitment to the Pacific region of more than $1 billion dollars, including funding to lay an undersea telecommunications cable to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

Thanks folks I know about us giving aid but very little about us getting aid. Most interesting Warrigal Thanyou everyone
I know Red Adair was sent by USA to help with a disaster. What the he k was that?

Didn't he die yonks ago? I think he fought fires, particularly on oil rigs. Perhaps that's what he did here.

While there are always plenty of comments on Australia giving aid there are no comments here or anywhere on Australia at any time recieving aid,
This is not just silver peers I find it on every site I visit.
Ihave often wanted to counter attack the opponents of us giving aid by saying we too have recieved aid. I looks as though we have never recieved aid.

The biggest problem is the perception that we contribute so much. "The average Australian believes we invest about 14% of the federal budget on foreign aid and that we should actually invest about 10%. In reality, we invest 0.8%." That's from the 2018 Lowy Institute Poll.

Australia hasn't received foreign aid. It's had no need to. It's been a rich country for a long while. I remember just after the war in the UK seeing a great number of cardboxes stacked up in the school hall. They were food parcels. We were each given one to take home. They were filled with canned fruits and other items we hadn't seen for years. We thought Australia must be a wonderful paradise.